Mechanical movement



June 6, 1950 P. H. DAVEY" MECHANICAL .MOVEMENT Y 5 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Dec. 28. 1948 INVENTOR. Paul. H. DAVEY @A4-@fw June 6, 1950 l P, H. DAVEY 2,510,082

MECHANICAL MOVEMENT Filed Dec. 28, 1948 Y n 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Z' J 1 (u A 29a I 3a 27 x/ zu/x/ /4 lsa l 3,-

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, ATTURNE Y# June 6, 1950 P. H. DAvEY MECHANICAL MOVEMENT 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Deo. 28, 1948 INVENTOR.

PA uL H. DAVEY 54,5%@ @e DMW A TTORNEYJ Patented June 6, 1950 PATE-NT 'FICE 2,510,052 MEW-@NEAL MQYEMENT Baul H. Dagey, Kent, .Ohio i er1-'lievemente 28,1948, Salame 67,6154

This vimfention relates l ,.illlrvmfnls ill a mechanical ymovement Ifor C111k gingcontinuous rotary movement to V:inter: rittent translator-y movement.

An object of the present invention is to provide a novel arrangement whereby a driving member rotating .continuously in one direction may drive a reciprocating member backward and forward in .an alternating translatory movement.

An Objectief the present ,invention el@ is t0 provide a device comprising a small number of parts t compactly arranged.

Still another object-oftheinventionis to provide a novel arrangement whereby the sudden Starting and ,StQpPllg @fthe vreplprtng .Imem' ber at the Vendvsof its Apatlviare eased sofas to Aprotect the parts against objectionable jar 'and Wear.

Other objects andradyantages of jthepresentinvention willv be `appare; 1t from *Y the facompanying drawings and description,V and the Aessential features thereof willbe sety forth-in -theappended 4 claims.

Inthe drawings,

:Fis ,171s a .side eleratiqnal Yivewliowng 91,1@ embodimentpf, myinventn;

-FigrZ is a sectional lviewtalgen along vtheline Fig. y3 is an Venlarged sectional view ltaken fthe prior art.

I .The translatory .ideviceJwhich :istito tbe l given alternating `'movement backward @and -forwa1d, .l comprises a .device which t may in general 4A-be called a rack I0 of narrow elongated form,..with bulbous ends. The details of this-rack.-member will be morev clearlyvunderstood fromy Fig.`2. vThe -rack proper comprises ,an L- shapedlplate II Ahaving a flange. I IIa-,securedY as bvwelding to-,the

Yilange I2a of a. plate l2 ,Which-is parallel to the -plate II. ',Regular-rackteeth might-be supported between theplates. I Land I2,-butI2 prefer toprofvide a series .A strollers k1?.mounted on pins I4 @which are in; turnT properlytsecured betweenfthe plates II andliIZ. xThesepins proVidea-shafton nwhichf vthe rollers ISLmay-fturn inv the..- manner of the rollers of a bicycle chain .thereby eliminating a, considerable amount lof wear. Laterally outwardly-from `theplate por-tion I2 it is .bent in ohann'el'form as indicated at 4I5 so as .to provide a` guideway for an oscillating armas will presently be described'. `A .bottom .plate I6 'is Welded tothe ohannelways l5 and serves to stiften the entire rack structure. Welded .to Ithe bottom central portion of the plate .Itis ,a .channel shoe member .I-. opening downwardly .and vl'laving flanges .il la turned outwardly and adaptedtoride upon apair of ways I8 Lwliic'h are bolted ito the bottom vcover I9. These v.ways lwill .be oiledor greasedso thatthes'h'oe All. mavreci'procate freely along the ways 48.m

` :Power isappliedto drive the rackmembertback `and forth bymeans .of Yany vsuitable ,devicepro- .viding continuous rotation .in Yone direction. .In .thepresent formtthis comprises amotorr 2| which .drives .reduction gearing in the housing 22, the .output shaft. of `whichris `shown .at.23. This shaft .islrovided with suitable bearings 2A ina neck portion 2.5which is bolted totthetliousingrZZ. A pinion=26 islkeyedtothe.shaft-23and this in turn .meshes with a pinion 21 Awhich is keyed to a jack shaft `28 which in turn Ais rotatablymountediin suitable bearings in an arm,l29..having an upper half rZlzrand a -lowerhalf ,29h lsecuredtogether by bolt means 30. AThis arm kis .also provided, with .bearingsonthe shaft 23. Keyedto the ,lower end of theshaft .28,.as-yiewed-in Fig.2, isa -sprocket ;,3 I shaving; sprocketnteeth which engage with kthe rack, formedoof aseries, ofrollers I3'i ,as clearly shown .in Fig...3. As showntin, that.,view, 35 with .the .sprocket ;3I Arotating in the direction of. thearrow indicated, itvvilldrive the rack memi bertoward the right until theend of slot .32 ,in theirack engagesthe shaft 2350 as to lstopthe ,motion of. *theY rack inL .that direction. The arm ,-29 then swings aboutgthepivot axis A vas ,Y the sprocket EI travelsarolundthe. bulbousrack end fla. Whenthe sprocketl vengagestlfle lower Y .side of the. rack member as Viewedin Fig. .3itwill thenodrive the, racktowarct the. leftnuntil motion 451s stoppedat the. lother l,end of ,theslot 32. The arm. 29 will `.then .swing about.: the. pivot .axis vB `JWhile the sprocket `,travels ,1. around'A the bulbous rack end Illb until the sprocket againreaol'ies the .upper portion of the, raokwhen itwill again. drive 50 y the rack .-towardthe right;

It will, benotedVv thatl ,the,sl:laft 23 iswprovided with. aineedlebearingg ,(Eigs. l2 .and .3 .,where it 4.engages .in the smi-.,132 in therack member. YThus .theshaft ..23 l serves ,tasa central .guide for .the

i5-track member asitre'ciprocates back and forth.'v

Means is necessary to guide the outer end of the arm 29 in order to cause it to travel in the desired manner along the rack portion and around the bulbous ends thereof. To this end the channel member I mentioned above, integral with the rack member, provides a continuous uninterrupted channel entirely along the straight rack portions and around the bulbous end portions parallel to and at a xed distance outwardly from the series of rollers i3. At the lower end of shaft 23 as clearly seen in Fig. 2, I provide needle bearing 3d adapted to ride in a frictionless manner in the channel l5. It results from this construction that the arm 29 lies at an acute angle with respect to the longitudinal center line of the rack portion which is passing beneath it.

Referring to Fig. 5 I have tried to show this result diagrammatically by reversing the position of the parts. In other words, in the actual machine the shaft 23 stands still and the rack i6 moves. In this diagram I have reversed the parts so as to show the position of the arm 29 at various stages in the cycle of operation. While the sprocket 3l is traveling along the upper straight run of the rack the arm 28 slopes toward the left as shown. From point 35 to point 35 is a zone of deceleration. For equal increments of travel of sprocket 3l, the shaft 23 travels pro gressively lesser amounts from 31 to A, the points near A being too close to show clearly on the drawing. At point 36 for sprocket 3l, the shaft 23 has reached A and is stopped there while sprocket 3l travels from 36 to 38. From 38 to 36 is a zone of acceleration. For equal increments From 39 to i6 the speed of opposite ends of arm 29 is constant and the arm slopes downwardly and toward the right as viewed in Fig. 5. From 40 to 4I, the arm 29 swings around point B exactly as it swung around point A. From di to 35 the arm 29 remains at a constant angle to Y the line AB, sloping upwardly and toward the left as viewed in Fig. 5.

Reverting back to the actual movements of the parts, the rack I9 slows down gradually while the sprocket 3l travels from 35 to 39, then stops from 36 to 38, then speeds up from 38 to 39.

Means may be provided to drive any desired piece of apparatus by means of the reciprocating rack member. To this end a bracket s3 is attached rigidly to the shoe member l'l. bracket member has an opening through which passes a rod Ml. A helical spring d5 surrounds the rod on one side of the bracket 43 and is held between the bracket and a nut L36. A helical This spring 47 on the opposite side of the bracket is held between the bracket and a nut 46 on the rod 44. Where the rod passes out of the housing I9 packing is provided by means of the packing gland 49 to prevent the escape of oil. The springs i5 and 4I absorb some of the shock due to the stopping of the rack at each end of its travel and United States Patent 1,598,553 granted August 31, 1926 to Robert S. Butler. In these prior devices a rack as illustrated at 50 in Fig. 6 is provided having parallel side portions and semicircular end portions, such as that indicated at 58a, which are joined tangentially to the straight run portions. My device provides the bulbous end indicated at 5l. It should be obvious from an inspection of Fig. 6 that a pinion, such as 3i shown in my drawings, traveling about the path 5I travels at a slower rate or rather takes longer to pass around the end of the rack than if the same were traveling at the same speed or rotation around the rack portion 50a. It is this feature of giving a greater period of time for the arm 29 and the sprocket member 3l to swing around the end of the rack which I regard as a great advantage.

But of much greater importance is the fact that the shape of the bulbous ends of my rack construction provide va, means for producing progressive deceleration to a full stop, and progressive acceleration from a full stop to full operating speed of the rack at the end of each stroke of the rack. This is exactly comparable to the progressive deceleration and acceleration which occurs at each end of the stroke of an engine piston which is actuated by the rotating crank throw of a conventional crankshaft by which it is possible to accomplish the rapid reciprocation of engine pistons without damage to the reciprocating parts.

In the evolution of my present design, and before I had arrived at the solution represented by the bulbous ends of the rack, I passed through a stage comparable to the construction of Warth and Butler, mentioned above, in which I merely made use of semi-circular end portions of the rack joined tangentially to the straight run portions. I found as a result that the rack rushed at full speed until it was stopped abruptly by the end of shaft 23 at bearing 33 at rack positions A .and B. Then arm 29 was thrown instantaneously into full motion around arc 58a. And when motion about arc 58a had been completed at full speed, the momentum of arm 29 was such as to set up a very destructive hammering action at the point where arc 59a joins the straight run portion 59. It is my opinion that it was the highly destructive action here described which has prevented the successful development of such drives as those of Warth and Butler, and which will be satisfactorily met by the design of my rack.

I have described my invention with the parts moving according to the arrows of Fig. 5. I believe that this unit could also be operated in reverse direction, in which case the driving pinion would approach the end of the rack at position 39, would then go through a period of deceleration in the zone 39 to 38, would stop in the arc 38-36, and would then accelerate .through the arc itt-35.

What I claim is:

1. In combination, a continuous rack having two generally parallel runs connected at their ends by curved end portions, the length of each end portion being greater than a semicircle having a radius equal to half the perpendicular distance between said parallel runs, a rotatable .pinion meshing with said rack, means mounting said rack for reciprocation endwise, an arm carrying said pinion, a shaft lying in a plane at right angles to said rack, said shaft positioned on the longitudinal center line between said parallel rack runs, said arm freely rotatable aboutl said shaft, the effective length of said arm being greater than half the perpendicular distance be* tween said parallel runs, means concentric with said shaft for rotating said pinion, and guide means for holding said arm at an acute angle to said longitudinal center line and inclined relative to the approaching end of said rack when said pinion is traversing each of said parallel runs.

2. In combination, a continuous rack having two generally parallel runs connected at their ends by curved end portions, the length of each end portion being greater than a semicircle having a radius equal to half the perpendicular distance between said parallel runs, a rotatable pinion meshing with said rack, means mounting said rack for reciprocation endwise, and means mounting said pinion member for engagement with said parallel rack runs and for movement from one of said runs to the other around and in engagement with said curved rack end portions under the driving action of said rotatable pinion. 3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said rack has a frame providing parallel longitudinally extending edges centrally of the rack, and said shaft engages between said edges to guide said rack as it reciprccates.

4. The combination of claim l wherein said rack comprises parallel frame portions and a series of evenly spaced rollers rotatably mounted between said frame portions and adapted to mesh with said pinion.

5. The combination of claim 1 including a rst gear mounted on said shaft and rotatable therewith, a jack shaft rotatably mounted in said arm near its free end, said pinion rotatable with said jack shaft, a second gear on said jack shaft and rotatable therewith, said first and second gears meshing, and means for rotating said first named shaft.

PAUL H. DAVEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,137,114 Bowser Apr. 27, 1915 25 1,598,553 Butler Aug. 31, 1926 

